Feature Article: Ten Ways to Market Your Liberal Arts Degree
Special Feature: New Quintessential Careers Section Offers Tools for College Students and New Grads
Quintessential Reading: QuintZine's Review of Career Books for College Students
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
What's New on Quintessential Careers: Latest Additions
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
This issue marks the 5th anniversary of QuintZine.
Although our first issue actually went out in March five years ago, we chose this issue as the anniversary
issue because it pays tribute to the roots of QuintZine's parent, Quintessential Careers. Dr. Randall Hansen
started the site (8.5 years ago) as a resource for his students to find jobs upon graduation.
In March, Quint Careers set a new monthly record of 840,000 unique visitors.
We continue to be grateful for the readers and visitors who have supported us
for more than eight years and for the five years of QuintZine.
QuintZine started with a list of about 50 subscribers who
were interested in receiving regular updates of what was new on Quint Careers.
Now that we've grown to 6,600 subscribers, we'd love to hear from any readers who
have been with us from the very beginning.
College grads and everyone else can check out the many job listings
and other resources available in our job portal.
--Katharine Hansen, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Liberal Arts Degree
Ten Ways to Market Your Liberal Arts Degree
by Katharine Hansen
Let's face it; liberal-arts degrees get a bum rap. Everyone wants to know what in the world you're
going to be able to do with that philosophy or history or literature degree. There's lots of
material out there about why it's a great idea to major in liberal arts, as well as information
on how to choose a career that maximizes your liberal-arts degree. But there's not much written
about how to actually market your degree to employers.
There's some disagreement among experts and pollsters about the importance of one's major
to employers, but the prevailing opinion is that -- with the exception of some highly specialized
and technical
fields -- the degree is much more important to employer than what you majored in.
That's great news for liberal-arts grads.
Let's assume you're pretty close to graduation and thus, it's probably way too late to change
majors (and heck, you wouldn't want to anyway). It's also probably too late to pick up a business
minor. Let's assume you have some idea of what you'd like to do for a living -- even if you're
not sure whether your liberal-arts degree will take you there. Having participated in internships
certainly could boost your currency and help you sell that liberal-arts degree. But let's say that
you didn't partake in any internships. Let's say you have to market yourself to employers as a
liberal-arts grad virtually on the strength of the degree alone.
The material in this new section comes from Donald Asher, also known
as "America's Job Search Guru." Asher is the author of nine books
on career-development issues.
Get the latest career, college, and job-search news you need!
Have you read the Quint Careers Weblog (Blog)?
It consists of career and job-search news, trends,
and scoops for job-seekers, compiled by the staff
of Quintessential Careers.
The blog is a great way to stay posted on the most
recent events occurring in the career and employment fields.
Should
You Really Be a Lawyer?, Deborah Schneider, JD, and Gary Belsky,
$21.95, Paperback, 239 pages, 2005, Decision Books; ISBN: #0940675579.
College students face myriad decisions as they approach graduation.
Students, especially liberal-arts majors, worry about whether they
will be able to parlay their degrees into jobs. Asher's book is, as
the title states, for students in any major, but there is a bit of a
liberal-arts slant to the book, probably because liberal-arts grads
are the most concerned about their prospects.
Many students are thinking about law school, and Schneider's and Belsky's Should You
Really Be a Lawyer? is filled with advice on the realities of getting into
law school, surviving its rigors, and practicing law afterwards.
To help you decide if How to Get Any Job with Any
Major and Should You Really Be a Lawyer? are a worthwhile
additions to the college-student bookshelf, our full review
offers
the top 10 things I learned from each book.
Read all of our Quintessential Reading book reviews.
CollegeJobBoard.com is designed for students and alumni of high school, vocational school, and college. Resources
include job search (including internship, full-time, part-time, and temporary positions), resume posting,
scholarship searches, and job-search tips.
Sing writes: "I am going to graduate college this May. Recently, a relative gave me a contact number to a
vice president of a company, and asked me to call him to ask for an opportunity in his company.
My questions are:
I called that person for 3 days already but I still couldn't reach him. I left a message that said
that I would try the next day. What should I do?
I feel weird asking for any job opening to someone
that I don't know. If that person asks me what kind of job I would interested in doing, I might stumble
and don't know how to answer. I could say I can do anything, but I am afraid he will think that I don't
have a goal in my career. How should I handle this kind of situation?"
Kimberly writes: "I graduated from an MBA program with honors in December and have been unsuccessful
in my job search. Thus far, I have done the following: (1) networked through associates and friends;
(2) attended career fairs; (3) applied for positions online that are posted to corporations' Web sites
or
my university's job postings. I have not had an interview since December. Can you provide any advice?"
Anonymous writes: "I have recently been invited back to a third interview with a company. This is a lunch interview
with the CFO, supervisor, and an IT consultant. I had previously met with the CFO and supervisor for the second interview.
What could this mean? Is it a good sign? Do they want the IT consultant to interview me by asking IT-related questions?
Are they really close to making a decision? Am I in really good standing for the position? Will they make me an
offer at this location?"
Ad: Could You Benefit from a Professional Resume Writer?
An Assessment for Job-seekers
Are you thinking about engaging the services of a professional writer
for your resume, CV, cover letter, thank-you letter, or other career-marketing
correspondence? Before you take this step, consider how a professional resume writer
could benefit you.
GoodRover.com --
a local job board for job-seekers searching for employment in the Nashville, TN, area.
Job-seekers can search job listings (by keywords, job category, employment type, salary),
as well as post your resume. Also includes a career news area. No cost to job-seekers.
SecurityCareers.com --
a great job site for security professionals dedicated to the niche information security
industry, where you can search job listings (by keyword, job category, and location),
as well as submit your resume. Also includes an employer directory. No cost to job-seekers.
Sloan Career Cornerstone Center --
a comprehensive resource center for those interested in careers in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics. Detailed career information, career profiles, and much more. No cost to job-seekers.
WorkMinistry --
a career management resource assisting faith-based and community organizations in developing
job support groups serving the unemployed, the underemployed and career changers and
connecting groups with employers. A lot of resources here -- all about career management
and networking and referrals. No cost to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
New college graduates with good communication skills have an advantage over their competitors in the job market,
according to a study published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
Employers responding to NACE's Job Outlook 2005 survey were asked to rate the importance of a variety of skills
and qualities. Communication skills, as well as honesty/integrity, earned the highest ratings.
Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director, notes that candidates have "two key opportunities to demonstrate
to employers that they have good communication skills -- on their resume and in the interview." says Mackes.
"Ironically, when we asked employers what skill was most lacking in college job candidates, good communication
skills also topped the list."
That's not to say that good communication skills and honesty/integrity are the only skills and qualities
that employers see as important. In fact, "employers have a pretty extensive list of skills and qualities
they look for in job candidates, including good interpersonal skills, a strong work ethic, and
teamwork skills," says Mackes.
And that's assuming the candidate meets the employer's basic criteria for job candidates, such as the requisite
degree, experience, or GPA.
A candidate's work experience is also important to employers. According to Mackes, many employers look
to hire new college graduates who have "relevant" work experience, gained through an internship or
cooperative education experience, but even unrelated work experience can help a candidate stand out.
"Employers are looking for evidence that a candidate has the skills, qualities, and abilities they believe
are important to workplace success, and work experience -- even if it's not directly related to the job at
hand -- can provide that evidence," explains Mackes.
Ninety-four percent of entry-level job-seekers would be willing to relocate for the right opportunity, says
a survey by CollegeGrad.com.
Along with the increased willingness of recent grads to relocate comes an increased level of competition
for open positions. Student job-seekers no longer compete only against peer graduates, or graduates from other
nearby schools. Instead, they now compete against graduates in a national and even international arena.
Of those respondents willing to relocate, almost 24 percent would be willing to relocate only within their
local or statewide area, while 40.4 percent would relocate nationally, and 35.7 percent would be
willing to relocate internationally.
New grads and other may be interested in what Fast Company magazine predicts will be among
the fastest-growing jobs for 2005:
Personal finance adviser
Medical scientist
Computer software engineer
Chiropractor
Environmental engineer
Biochemist and biophysicist
Sales manager
Epidemiologist
Computer system analyst
Athlete
Agent and business manager for artists, performers, and athletes
Time for our annual pre-April-15 reminder that job-seekers, according to CareerJournal.com,
may be eligible to itemize the following expenses on their tax returns:
travel expenses
employment-agency fees
resume-preparation fees
career-counseling expenses
the cost of advertising your services
newspapers and other periodicals purchased for their help-wanted ads
legal fees paid to an attorney to review an employment contract
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Job Burnout Quiz
* Job Burnout Remedies
* The Value of Internships Abroad and Study Abroad
* Top 10 Fears of Job-seekers
* For Job-hunting Success, Develop a Detailed Job-Search Plan
* How to Build a Personal Advisory Board
* Keep Your Career Dreams Alive
* College-Prep Summer Camps
* 10 Teen Summer-Job Tips
* MBA Career Portfolios
* Trends/Tips in Career Portfolios
* Pre-Hire Background/Credit Checks
* Noncompete Clauses
* Entrepreneurs
* Get a Job in Sales/Pharmaceutical Sales
* Critical Elements of the Job Search
* Managing Job Stress
* Telecommuting Ranks High
* Sticky Job Interview Situations
* Situational Interviews
* 10 Resume Tips
* Why Hire a Resume Writer?
* Is Your Resume Lost in the Internet Void?
* Career Activist Quiz
* Practice Career Management to Avoid Career Crisis
* The Changing Landscape of College Admissions
* Offbeat Ways to Pay for College
* Financial Aid/Scholarship Timetable
* Build Confidence and Avoid Insecurity in Job Interviews
* Empty Nest Job-seekers
* Baby Boomers Beware
* Are You Sabotaging Your Job-Search/Career?
* Quiz: Marketing Yourself
* Marketing Yourself with internal/External Promotions
* Lifelong Networking
* Networking for the Shy
* Converting a Seasonal Job to a Permanent Position
* Working Night Shifts/Odd Hours
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Career, College, and Job-Search Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
the email version of QuintZine by completing our
subscription form.
Ad: Quintessential Careers Career Coaching Services
We now offer two types of career-coaching services!
Are you...
feeling stuck in an unsatisfying job?
facing a major change in career or job status?
searching for your ideal career or job?
seeking help in developing a job-search plan?
looking for a solution to job-search obstacles?
desiring to bounce ideas off of a career expert?
trying to discover the keys to career success?
Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
issues, and problems. He has helped hundreds of teens, college students, and experienced job-seekers identify obstacles, develop
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And for an economical online-only career-coaching alternative,
visit The Career Clinic.
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Quintessential Careers also offers writing services
for those who have been asked to give a speech and
need assistance in researching and writing their
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Need a speaker for your career-oriented conference or
event at your college or organization? The Quintessential
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can provide presentations/workshops on a variety of
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